The Fallen, The Ceremony, And The Campaign

On August 6th in 2011, a Chinook helicopter was shot down over Wardak Province in Afghanistan, killing all 38 aboard. Among the dead were 30 US troops, 25 of whom were Navy SEALs. This well-publicized slaughter came on the heels of the triumphant news from three months earlier that Navy SEALs had successfully eliminated Osama Bin Laden.
The following Tuesday, at Dover Air Force Base, there was a solemn paying of respects by the president, who discretely boarded each of the two C-17s containing the remains of the fallen heroes. His motorcade then proceeded to a nearby building wherein about 250 friends and family of the dearly departed awaited. President Barack Obama spent over an hour expressing his condolences to those who gathered.
Thirteen months later, while the United States was observing the anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the world bore witness to the commencement of coordinated attacks on U.S. facilities in several countries -- ongoing as of this writing. At...(Read Full Post)